Chapter 59 A Heavy Blow
"On the eve of the Imperial Aunt's birthday, Madam Xue brought Miss Zhang to Kaibao Temple to celebrate her birthday." Prince Wei spoke calmly, "The wife of the Earl of Yongqin and Master Jiang Liu also went to Kaibao Temple those two days."
The prince frowned when he heard this.
The King of Wei continued, "Prince, do you still remember that the Imperial Aunt's men sent Jiang Yin to Kaifeng Prefecture? However, within just one night, Jiang Yin died in the Kaifeng Prefecture prison."
The prince certainly knew that Qin Junyi wanted to use his connections to go to Kaifeng Prefecture to meet Jiang Yin.
But at that time the prince knew that Jiang Yin was sent to Kaifeng Prefecture by the eldest princess, and he did not want to offend the eldest princess so he refused.
"Jiang Yin's body was mutilated, all by the hands of Duke Ying and Zhang Huai." The King of Wei looked ahead, a smile on his lips. "Your Highness should also know what kind of man the Sixth Master of the Jiang family is. He loves women and is vicious in his sexual life. He toyed with Miss Zhang while they were at Kaibao Temple. When the Imperial Aunt's men escorted Madam Xue and Miss Zhang out of Kaibao Temple, Miss Zhang was still unconscious."
"So the baby in Zhang Ruru's belly is Jiang Yin's!?" the prince said in horror.
"Prince, I say this only to tell you that Miss Zhang has had a difficult life. If you don't have the heart to marry her, I will ask my mother to withdraw the imperial decree. But if you do, then you should treat Miss Zhang well."
The prince knew that King Wei did not tell him this with good intentions, but it was really too much for the Zhang family to conceal this matter!
"Thank you, Your Highness, for telling me. This prince naturally wants to marry her." The prince said expressionlessly.
If it would only benefit the King of Wei to make enemies with the British at this time, how could the Crown Prince not understand the King of Wei's intentions? He would not have agreed to the King of Wei's wishes.
"Then I am relieved." King Wei said with a calm smile: "Then I will go to the manor first. Is the prince going back to the city?"
A cold look flashed in the prince's eyes, and he said, "I have other things to do, so I'll take my leave now."
"Then I won't send the prince off."
After the King of Wei finished speaking, he watched the Crown Prince turn and leave. Luo Ning beside him said, "The Crown Prince is becoming more and more mean-spirited. He actually came up with such a dirty trick to plot against you, my master."
"There's nothing we can do about it." The King of Wei stared at the Crown Prince's retreating figure and smiled coldly. "The Emperor, constrained by the cabinet, dares not allow the Crown Prince to gain too much power, so he can only cut his wings. The prince born to Concubine Zheng is very much loved by the Emperor. Although he has the title of Crown Prince, he also knows that he is surrounded by enemies on all sides."
"Should the body be sent to the Crown Prince's residence?" Luo Ning thought of Hong Zhi's corpse, which had just been found behind the screen in the main house of Anshou Garden. "The fatal blow was the silver hairpin on the back of the head. It seems that the Crown Prince and Madam Xue underestimated the young lady of the Yongyi Marquis's residence."
The King of Wei withdrew his gaze and, as he turned around, said, "Send it to the Crown Prince's Palace."
"yes."
——
At the end of noon, the peach blossom banquet had already begun at Yunwu Manor.
Today's peach blossom pastry is the highlight. The nobles all know that the Empress Dowager has a cook with particularly good skills. No matter whether it is a dish or a pastry, as long as it comes from her hand, it will have a unique flavor.
Therefore, many nobles today want to taste the cook's cooking skills again.
Although the incident involving the eldest son of the Duke of Yingguo's mansion was regrettable, there were many competitions in the capital every year involving signing of life and death agreements. As long as no one was killed, the matter would be glossed over.
What more people were saying behind his back was that Zhang Ran was not as skilled as his opponent but could not afford to lose.
Therefore, when the Peach Blossom Banquet began, many people had already forgotten what happened to Zhang Ran.
After hearing the Queen Mother's explanation, the nobles who were the first to accompany her in the manor also agreed that the King of Wei was definitely not that kind of person, and that the young lady of the Marquis of Yongyi's Mansion was the eldest daughter of the Xie family and a woman who valued reputation, so the previous rumors must have been a misunderstanding.
The Empress Dowager was in a good mood, and Princess Zhaozhen, who arrived at the banquet last, was also in a very good mood. After they sat down, the nobles began to talk.
Jiang and Wangshi Jiang sat together, Shangguan Yao sat behind them. Xueqing squatted beside Shangguan Yao and said in a low voice, "The young marquis has gone to look for the crown prince. As for the young lady, I don't know where she went."
Shangguan Yao's face turned slightly cold: "I understand."
She was actually a little afraid of Qin Junyi and Xie Rongying being alone together. Thinking of Xie Rongying's figure on the horse farm, she knew that any man would admire her.
Xie Rongying was Qin Junyi's legally married wife, so he must have felt proud of it.
In the past, she had never had this sense of crisis. She knew that Qin Junyi disliked women like Xie Rongying who were so rigid and obedient. But now Xie Rongying was completely different from what she knew.
"Madam, don't worry. The young marquis is definitely not with the young lady." Xue Qing comforted her.
Shangguan Yao just snorted coldly, then picked up the teacup and started drinking tea.
Jiang Shuer and Jiang Huaer sat down at the table to Shangguan Yao's left. They walked around for a long time before arriving at the banquet.
Shangguan Yao looked at Jiang Shu'er, who was standing next to her, and asked, "Sister Shu'er, why did you come so late? Have you seen the young lady?"
Jiang Shuer glanced at Xie Rongying and said, "I didn't see my cousin's wife."
"Your cousin didn't see it either?" Shangguan Yao frowned.
Jiang Shu'er knew Shangguan Yao's thoughts and said, "My cousin and his wife must be discussing the matter somewhere. After all, there are rumors that my sixth uncle ruined Zhang Ruru's innocence. Who else would tell others about this except my cousin's wife?"
"What did you say?" Jiang Wangshi turned sideways and stared at Jiang Shu'er: "What are you spreading?"
Jiang Shu'er knew that Sixth Uncle's affairs were taboo in the Jiang family. She stammered, "Sixth Uncle destroyed Zhang Ruru's innocence. Those people said it was no wonder that Sixth Uncle died so strangely. It turned out that it was the Duke of Ying who was behind it."
——
After hearing the rumors about Yunwu Manor, Mrs. Xue was furious and wanted to find Xie Rongying anxiously.
Like the Jiang family, she believed that only Xie Rongying would tell others about the affairs of Jiang Yin and Zhang Ruru. She walked through the peach forest, relying on her feeling to move forward.
For some reason, she felt that Xie Rongying would be in the peach forest in front of Anshou Garden.
Sure enough, Xie Rongying was seen in the pavilion deep in the peach forest.
Xie Rongying was sitting alone in the pavilion, as if she had been waiting for her for a long time.
Mrs. Xue thought that the rumors and harm that the Zhang family suffered today were all caused by Xie Rongying. The anger in her chest completely erupted, and she strode towards Xie Rongying.
Xie Rongying also saw Mrs. Xue. She looked at Mrs. Xue with a smile as she walked towards her angrily.
"Thank you, Rongying!" Madam Xue walked into the pavilion and shouted angrily, "Did you spread those rumors?!"
"It's me." Xie Rongying admitted it directly without asking what the rumor was. She smiled at Mrs. Xue while speaking.
Mrs. Xue seemed to be irritated by Xie Rongying's provocative smile. She walked to Xie Rongying angrily and raised her hand to hit Xie Rongying. However, the moment she raised her hand, she was hit hard on the back of her head and slowly fell in front of Xie Rongying.
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